Before the Arab Uprisings a narrative almost as well known as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was indoctrinated into the minds of many US and European citizens; the claim that Arabs and Muslims were inclined to tyranny and dictatorship.

In a previous article I noted that the so-called “counterjihad” is really a confederacy of covetous and ideologically opposed individuals and groups with inflated egos loosely united by hate for, and an irrational fear of, Islam and Muslims.

In a recent reform package that aims at greater democratization in Turkey the headscarf has been legalized for public officials and civil servants. This was a long battle of over 20 years that has seen the extreme secularists lose to the mainstream of Turkish society; hopefully France can become more democratic and follow Turkey’s example.

The Afghan Taliban forced women to wear burqas, and the Tory Taliban wants to force them not to. It seems peculiar to take away women’s freedom to choose their own clothing in the name of granting women greater freedom.

There are more Middle Eastern Christians than ever before, and they are poised between emergence as a new political force in a democratizing region and the dangers to them of fundamentalism and political repression.

Iran is portrayed in the Western media as a country run by fanatical, bloodthirsty Mullahs, ruling in concert with the often outrageous President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As for the Iranian people, angry mobs are often shown in the streets, burning American flags and shouting “Death to America!”

Egypt should establish a democratic state based on a constitution that satisfies all Egyptians, Al-Azhar announced in a document released Monday. “There should be a democratic system that is based on elections to achieve concepts for Islamic consultation and penalizing officials,” Ahmed al-Tayyeb, Al-Azhar’s grand sheikh, said in a press conference.